Taka and Masaru were still asleep in their respective position as Korra watches; she chuckled. She was pondering whether to wake them yet…or not. "Sleep tight, sweetie," she gave him a kiss on the cheek, whispering, "I'll just let you rest a little more." She then walked outside again to see the city.
As the sun rose to its highest above Ba Sing Se, they could start to see something approaching from the horizon. "What is that?"— "It looks like a… I actually don't know what it looks like." The guards standing ready atop the unbroken wall chattered. Of course they had no clue of what it was since they've probably never seen one before. But it was a Future Industries airship slowly approaching the destroyed city. It was mighty to behold like an iron giant, though sleek too. Its eight propellers fastly spinning, keeping it aloft and flying through the air. And from behind that one, another appeared quite the same, both en route to the city to help.
"Ms. Sato. We're approaching the city now. We should arrive in a few minutes," one of the operators informed her through the radio.
"Understood. See you guys when you land," she replied.
"Uhh, what's approaching the city?" Tenzin asked, bemused.
"A way to get the prisoners out safely," she continued to be vague.
The people outside were gasping and amazed at the huge airships coming in above them. They were murmuring and chatting amongst themselves. Asami and Tenzin walked out and he too was amazed…or at least surprised. "Tenzin, say hello to the Future Industries airship. Pretty cool, huh?" the engineer said to him.
"Well, it's certainly something," he replied amazed.
As they were about to land, the people were cleared away to make way for their landing. The front one landed first while the other stayed hovering above, awaiting their turn. The platform slid down and the door opened to reveal a familiar face. "Well well, Asami Sato. You are full of surprises," a familiar voice said before stepping out into the light. "Good to see you again, Tenzin. So where's Korra?" it was Police Chief Beifong who came a with her metalbending police force to help transfer the prisoners and ensure a safe passage.
"Lin? I mean, Chief Beifong. What are you doing here?" Tenzin asked.
"Asami asked me to come to help transfer the prisoners, make sure they don't try anything…surprising," she answered.
"Well, that's a good call, Asami. Good," he answered, seemingly coughing.
Asami was a bit confused, but after all was said and done, they started loading up the criminals onto the airship. As they were doing that, Korra saw the commotion and went back inside to wake up Taka and Masaru. Surprisingly, he was already awake and staring out the window.
"Hey," he said as she walked in.
He then gave her a warm hug, a long one. It was nice… She smiled. But they had to get going so she stopped it early and told him "we gotta go." For some reason it felt a little…strange. Anyway, they woke Masaru up—which was pretty difficult. It took them a few minutes to do so, and even when they did, it took him awhile to fully wake up—his hair was a little messed up, his eyes were closed, and he was moving his mouth in a chewing pattern.
They were almost finished loading up the attackers onto the airship, they were assigned to cells fitting three people each. Most of these were makeshift and always guarded by two members of the police, no less. It was almost full, just a few more and they were off to…wherever they were going with them. It was at the last moments when the last of the criminals were being loaded up that Korra, Taka, and Masaru showed up. She was particularly enthralled by the size of the airships. "Wooow," she spoke out.
"That's a pretty big airship," Masaru too said in amazement, "is that yours, Asami?"
"Well, not really. It belongs to Future Industries. The best and newest, top of the line," she replied with some pride.
Eventually, they finished loading up the last one and were ready to take off. "That's the last one, mam," one of the officers said. "Good," the chief replied. She told them to get ready while she said her "farewell for now" to Team Korra. She expressed that it was nice to see them all again—she greeted Korra as she had just arrived along with Masaru and Taka. The Police Chief had heard about what had happened here with her and inquired if she was alright.
"Yeah, it's fine, Chief," the former Avatar answered.
She was glad to hear, 'cause they still have to catch these criminals. And of course, once again, the burden fell to their shoulders. Team Korra GO!
"Well, Tenzin. See you again soon," she said to him with a sorta strict or maybe cold manner.
"Uhmm…o-kay," he spoke, a little confused.
"What was that about?" Asami asked.
"Nothing. It's uhm…nothing," all he replied. "Let's uh get going, shall we?"
The engineer had a confused look on her, but "alright". The airship then took off carrying all the attackers far away and to lock 'em up, they hoped. That was the signal for the other one to land so the gang could board and begin their new journey.
That airship was just hovering above them waiting to land; the staff inside were doing all sorts of trivial things to pass the time. One actually threw and bounced a ball off the wall over and over again. A few of them slept on their chairs—more resting, I suppose. And then two of them were playing Pai Sho while a few others watched. It was apparently an intense game.
Anyway, they started their descent and landed (I guess "landed" just means they're hovering just a few meters off the ground. They didn't actually land). The doors opened and the platform lowered so they could finally enter.
"Asami, mam. The ship is yours," one of the staff spoke and saluted.
"Thank you," the engineer replied.
She then boarded along with Tenzin, Bolin, and Mako, leaving the trio left to ponder.
"I guess we're going," Masaru spoke. He tapped Korra on the shoulder before joining the rest onboard. Unbeknownst to the others, Korra was noticing, or sensing, the commotion around her. Due to all that was happening yesterday, they failed to realize just who it was that came to their rescue. She turned around to look at them… They were all murmuring, talking amongst themselves. Some quietly, some quite loudly, though the combination of them all sure seemed loud.
"Isn't that the Avatar?"—"Don't you mean 'was'? I heard she's not the Avatar anymore."—"Yeah, that's Korra."—"Wow, she seems so different now."—"Did she change her look or something?"
They weren't all bad comments nor were they really hating on her. She did just save them after all, barring destroying parts of the town and letting the Queen get murdered. But all in all, everything was good. They were feeling mostly ambivalent more than anything. Unsure of what's happening. Taka grabbed her by the shoulder and asked if she was okay.
"Korra, are you alright?" he said.
"Yeah, I'm… ("Haha", she chuckled) I'm fine," she replied with a quiet smile. "Let's go."
She took his hand and they both walked up the platform towards the airship. The platform was raised and stowed, and the doors closed again. "Alright, take us away," Asami commanded. And flew they did, majestically. The people waved at them goodbye and bid them farewell (though they were still unsure about the former Avatar). It wasn't long before the city started to become smaller and smaller as they got farther away.
"Finally, we're in the air," Mako lazily said as he sat on a chair, putting his feet up on the table. (It was in the middle of the room or bridge used for planning and whatnot. A map was laid on it).
"So what's the plan, boss?" Asami asked Korra.
"Yeah, Korra. Where are we going?" Tenzin joined in.
Korra looked confused 'cause she actually didn't know where to go or even what to do.
"Uhmm…well…" she mumbled, tapping her fingers together. She chuckled nervously.
"Yeeeaaaah, you don't know where we're going, do you?" Bolin said, looking as oblivious as ever.
"Weelll…" she spoke scratching her head.
They all lowered their heads and threw out a collective sigh; Tenzin was putting his hand over his face.
Meanwhile, Zaheer and his companions have just about reached their next destination: an unknown and remote island in the middle of the ocean. Though virtually unknown to the world, it was a pretty big island – though not that big – with a dense jungle; it wasn't as small as they thought. They have come here for he believes it was where the second key resided. They landed on the island's small beach, but the sand felt different, as Ghazan noticed (it seemed different too). He grabbed some and held it in his hand as it slipped, flowing gently out between his fingers. It was rougher somehow…coarser. Almost metallic, but…also a little different in that respect. Anyway, Zaheer held out some sort of amulet—it was glowing or shining depending on where he pointed it too. It appeared to be leading them to the key.
"This way," he told them. And they followed.
They continued to encounter the rough sand wherever they went, and streams and small rivers could be seen throughout the island. Actually, Ming Hua could swear that she saw the sand move and shift at times…as if it was alive. Whenever she would mention it though, the others just dismissed it as the wind shifting the sand (it was pretty windy that day). Though unbeknownst to the group, the sand appeared to be taking shape behind them, growing out from the ground.
Going through the thick jungle was a bit of a challenge even for them. Not to mention the mosquitoes and other local insects. "Gah, I hate the jungle," remarked Ming Hua. As another mosquito landed on her face, she used her water arm to grab it, crushing it—or rather drowning it, I suppose. She smirked.
Zaheer once again took the amulet out his pocket and held it up. This time though it just started glowing randomly—like fritzing—in various directions. And they were already deep in the jungle. Things weren't looking very good and they were getting more than a little frustrated.
"Huh, great. Now the amulet's broken," Ghazan spoke.
"Enough of this," Zaheer said, "Ghazan, earthbend us up. I wanna see past this jungle."
"Alright, boss," he agreed.
But when he tried to, for some reason he couldn't. He tried to bend the ground, but couldn't; he was obviously struggling. The ground moved and shook a little, but he couldn't get it moving more.
"Urgh! What's wrong with this place?!" he exclaimed, frustrated.
"Calm down, Ghazan! What's wrong?" the airbender asked shouting.
"I don't know. I can't bend the ground. It's this sand… Something strange about it. Almost like it's…" but before he could finish his sentence, something interrupted him.
There was a quake and birds flew from the treetops to above the canopy.
"Come on. Let's just keep moving," P'Li advised, calm and collected. She seemed untroubled by all the happenings.
Ming Hua agreed, sort of. At least the canopy of trees kept them shielded from the sun's heat so they were cool. They continued their journey.
As they were tirelessly treading through the unforgiving jungle on an unforgiving island in the middle of nowhere, Team Korra were still at odds with each other regarding what they should do next (Korra herself still had no idea where to go next). Zaheer and his companions didn't really leave any clue or sign as to where they were going. Though something was still gnawing at the back of the former Avatar's mind; a feeling she couldn't really shake off. As everyone was bickering away, she rested on the table (on her arms), contemplating her thoughts…and what Mala Ta'ak said to her. She still couldn't remember…
The crew didn't really know what to do either. But they thought it best not to interfere with the boss' "discussions". All kinds of theories were being tossed and thrown around the room, but no one could decide or stick with anything. Everything seemed plausible and implausible at the same time, if that makes sense. But Korra remained silent among the talking, serious in her contemplations. She knew it was important.
"Something about a lock or a key or…" she thought to herself.
The loudness around did not disturb her as if the whole room was silent enough that you could hear a pin drop.
Anyway, as Team Korra was arguing away, the criminal team were still wandering around in the island's thick and dense jungle. In fact, they seemed to be lost. The amulet was at times reliable and at other times unreliable; Ghazan specifically was tired of getting slapped in the face by the leaves or branches and more so by the fact that he apparently wasn't able to bend anything. Not only did he feel tired, but he felt powerless too. It didn't really make him afraid though, just angry, if anything else.
"Urgh" we've been walking around this jungle for hours! Where is this damn key?!" the armless waterbender exclaimed.
"I too have to admit, sweetie. This seems unfruitful and wasting our time," P'Li concurred, "there's gotta be a better way to do this. I thought the amulet was supposed to lead us to it."
"That is what we were told," their leader said, "but it seems our 'host' hasn't been too forthcoming with everything."
Then all of a sudden it shone brightly again, pointing the way, it seemed, to the location of the second key.
"Okay, what's wrong with it now?" Ming Hua asked, tired.
"Follow me," Zaheer only spoke.
Reluctantly, they all continued on and followed their leader. He has never let them down before. Well, not too many times that actually matter, I guess. The day was turning into evening as the light began to fade; the sun was about to dip below the horizon, but was still shining; though the wind picked up and there was a bigger breeze; the air felt colder. Thankfully for them, it also wasn't long before they finally reached an open area. Ghazan and Ming Hua breathed out a sigh of relief. Some sort of temple lied in the middle, a big and tall one.
Zaheer had a sinister smile on his face and, as he stepped forward to claim his prize, the part of the ground he stepped on depressed. There was a clicking sound. All of a sudden arrows came flying out of the trees heading in their general direction.
Ah yes, I suppose I should clarify. The island was riddled with traps as the four found out throughout their trekking through the forest. A similar trap with arrows was triggered also on their way to this area which they were now standing on. There were also pits rigged with sharp spears and even one filled with deadly snakes of some sorts. With their combined powers, though, they were able to escape these traps quite easily. All the more reason that they were tired and frustrated and just wanted to leave that dreadful place and never look back. But they still had a mission to do, so let's get back to it.
"Look out!" Ghazan screamed out as he tried to protect them. Though once again, as before, he failed to bend. None of them really knew why, it looked just like any other earth they've seen. Though the texture and smoothness were different as they found out when they first landed on these shores.
Ming Hua then stepped in and used her tendrils and bended the surrounding water from the streams to use as a shield. She hardened the water and turned them into ice. It blocked the arrows successfully.
"Man, they really don't want anyone getting their hands on this key, do they?" P'Li commented.
"The Avatar made sure that no one could access any of the keys. That's why the places are so remote and heavily guarded," Zaheer explained.
"Huh. Like the last one?" she continued in a mocking way.
Finally, the hail of arrows seemed to have stopped. They could take a breath for a moment. But it was short-lived as the ground then shook beneath them and was moving, forming a mound of sorts in front of them. It continued to get bigger and bigger as it grew what looked like arms, legs, and a face; it let out a monstrous roar that shook the trees. It began to walk towards them slowly—a hulking beast.
"I got this," P'Li said.
She then charged towards the beast made of earth and stone and combustionbended, but the beast bended the ground in front and blocked the explosion (whatever it was made of, the sand was pretty tough), though it was destroyed quite a deal. Only a small few remained and was dripping down. It dropped the shield and continued walking. The combustionbender was a little flummoxed by this.
"That sand wall should've been destroyed completely," she thought.
Annoyed, she charged at the sand beast, both hands engulfed in fire ready to strike. But unfortunately for her, she stepped on and triggered another trap. Two big stone tablets then appeared to her right and left and the symbols on it began to glow bright blue. What seemed to be a subtle energy wave then bombarded her emanating from both tablets. It appeared to have disoriented her; she couldn't move much, nor focus for that matter. Her vision started to get blurry and she fell to the ground hands and knees first. She began to shake and shiver before completely falling to the ground.
"P'Li!" Zaheer screamed for her.
He ran to assist her, but was forced aside by a stream of water. A person was standing on top of a branch on one of the trees to their left, and was bending the water from the streams. Her face was covered with a sort of thick veil and she was also dressed in a way that they've never seen before. That is, before they met the guardians of the first key (the air key) high on the mountains. She was dressed in quite the same way: black clothing (kinda like a ninja, I suppose) with no insignia or symbols of any kind—it was plain. Though she wasn't wearing any kind of helmet at the time, only the veil to cover her face. Her long hair stood out, flowing down to her shoulders.
"A waterbender? What's going on here?" Ghazan spoke.
"Then this beast thing must be the work of an earthbender. Or whatever this sand is made out of," Ming Hua surmised. "Don't worry. I'll take care of the waterbender. You and the boss try to take down this behemoth," she told him as she jumped up to face her opponent. And they both disappeared into a different part of the jungle.
"Try to take down the behemoth," he repeated in a sarcastic way, "and just how are we supposed to do that?"
"We hit it…hard," Zaheer stepped out of the trees.
"In case you haven't noticed, boss, my bending's not exactly working right now," the earthbender reminded him.
"Then do something! Anything!" he told him before jumping to attack the beast.
He airbended a big gust of wind towards it. The sand beast was dragged along backwards, but was otherwise fine. It didn't even flinch (not that it really had a face). It then bended some of its own sand on its right hand to Zaheer, solidifying it, forming a sort of spear or such sharp object. The airbender jumped high just in time to avoid it—a second later and he would've been impaled and that would've been a gruesome sight indeed. He hovered for a moment and slowly levitated down to one of the tree branches to recuperate. But it wasn't for long as he quickly went to attack it again from behind.
Meanwhile, Ghazan was at a loss at what to do. He couldn't seem to bend this earth or sand or whatever it was, so what should he do? He continued to stand and think for a few more seconds as powerlessness gripped him. Zaheer continued his assault on the hulking sand beast, barely slowing it down. As they were both occupied, Ghazan thought about trying to help P'Li instead and that's when it hit him: the tablets are, most likely, made of stone.
"Maybe I could bend that," he thought.
And so he tried, and succeeded; he stepped and thrusted both his hands to each of the tablets respectively, breaking them and raising them up. With determination and a scream, he launched both tablet pieces at the beast, successfully knocking it back and down—at least for a few seconds. It gave them time to take a breath. P'Li, now free from whatever magic it was, started to regain her senses, but was still panting quite a bit; her vision was still a little blurry too; she looked distraught and tired and eventually passed out.
At another part, Ming Hua was engaged in her own battle with the waterbender. They were both jumping from tree to tree and bending all the streams around them. Water was flung and shot to and from all directions. Eventually they both stopped and landed on trees opposite one another.
"You're a pretty good waterbender," Ming Hua said to her opponent.
But she continued to be silent and said nothing, only staring at the armless waterbender straight in the eye with conviction.
"What is wrong with you people?" she asked, puzzled and frustrated.
The guardian only closed her eyes and motioned her hands so that her right hand's index and middle finger were up and in front of her chest. Ming Hua smirked at what she was doing—letting her guard down during battle—and took the opportunity to strike her down. She molded her right water arm sharp and sent it straight towards her opponent. But as soon as it was about to hit, the guardian opened her eyes and struck Ming Hua's water arm directly, shattering it and it seemed to keep flowing through the stretched arm until it eventually reached the end.
"Arrgghh!" Ming Hua exclaimed.
She then felt numb on her right shoulder. And she couldn't bend the water to reform her right tendril either. "What did you do to me?" she shouted.
Still not talking or saying anything, she jumped up, dragging a big wave of water behind her, and headed towards Ming Hua. The armless waterbender looked scared as the wave hit her with force and she slammed back against the tree before falling down to the ground.
Back in front of the temple, the beast had already recovered from the earthbender's assault and was standing back up. Ghazan quickly bended the two pieces back and let it float around him.
"Boss. Whatever this tablet thing is, looks like it's strong enough to break through that thing's armor," he noticed the beast's sand skin chipped a little at the spot where he struck it.
"Then let's combine our assault. We kill this thing now. Keep striking it while I use my airbending," he ordered.
"Let's do it."
But before they could do anything, the sand beast expanded its arms—or rather, its sand—forwards and it spread across above them, zig zagging in multiple directions like branches; it blotted out a good portion of the sky from view.
"Move!" Zaheer shouted.
True enough, the sand created sharp protrusions that struck the ground and trees in multiple directions; the area became like a forest of blackish spikes. After a few seconds, it retracted them all back to see the result of the destruction it caused. The ground was littered with holes and cracks, and several trees were completely destroyed but there were no bodies. Though honestly, with all that destruction, nothing could be made certain. Their bodies could've been completely obliterated. It stood hulking, apprehensive, for a few seconds before cautiously and slowly stepping forward. It stopped. There was silence for a few seconds. The wind ominously voiced its warning as it whooshed amongst the leaves and picks up speed until suddenly one of the tablet piece launches out from the tree canopy at the beast with great speed. The tablet smashed directly into the beast's right shoulder and chipped away lots of the sand. It staggered and stumbled back. Then, both Zaheer and Ghazan leaped out from the trees and launched another big air blast and the other tablet, respectively. The air blast hit the already attached tablet and together, completely severed its arm to reveal blood flowing out. At this point, the beast was weak and the sand that made up its body and armor crumbled away. Then the other tablet hit it directly at the chest, completely breaking the sand and launching the bender inside backwards and out; the beast form crumbled away into nothing.
"Finally. I have had it with this island," Zaheer remarked.
They both walked towards the bender, a man it seemed, lying on the ground bleeding and weak, the now broken tablet pieces scattered around him. The airbender and earthbender stood beside him, looking down at the now feeble warrior. The sandbender was shivering and blood spurting out of his mouth.
"What are you?" asked a bewildered Ghazan.
But as he was already dying from his serious wounds, he could not speak nor say anything. Only looking at them for a few more seconds before expiring.
"What a waste," Zaheer commented.
With that finally out of the way, they took a moment to relax and take a breath. It was then that P'Li awoke and stepped out of the trees at the far back after being carried out of the way of the spike attack before. Her hand was over her face and she was still feeling dizzy and tired. She shaded her eyes and saw Ghazan and Zaheer at the distance and made her way to them.
"Ohhhh," she moaned as she reached them, "what happened?"
"You got zapped by some… I don't know, some kinda energy thing," Ghazan explained.
"Are you alright, sweetie?" Zaheer was concerned.
"Yeah…I think so," she replied, "I'm just still a little dizzy. But I'll be okay. Where's Ming Hua?"
"She'll join us when she's done with the other guardian. Come on, let's claim our prize and finally get off of this accursed island," the airbender said.
"I gotta admit, the Avatar knows what she was doing when she hid these things," Ghazan remarked, impressed, as they were climbing up the quite steep steps, "these places are so remote and away. And these guardians she appointed… Incredible warriors."
"Yeah, they sure know how to pack a punch," P'Li added a bit embarrassed.
"He didn't even hit you. You got downed by a pair of magic tablets," the earthbender laughed trying to mock her.
She wanted so much to hit him, or punch him, or maybe even firebend at him, but she was still too tired, much to her dismay.
"Shut up, Ghazan," she only spoke.
Their leader told them to quit it as they were almost at the top.
"Both of you know very well what's at stake here," he added.
"Yeah, we do," the earthbender stopped them as they reached the top, sounded nervous, "which is why I gotta ask, are you still sure we wanna do this? Like you said, the Avatar went to a lot of trouble to keep all these keys hidden and protected. It was for a reason. In fact, they're so dangerous that these guardians or whatever are willing to die to keep them safe."
"We've faced loyalists before, Ghazan. People willing to risk their own lives for a goal they believe in isn't anything new to us. In fact, we should know better about that," the leader replied.
"Yes, but we don't really know what the keys are truly for. Only what our 'host' told us. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this. This is a bad idea and I think we should stop while we still can," the earthbender asserted, "while we still have the chance."
"Ghazan's got a point, sweetie. I mean, what are we really accomplishing by doing this?" P'Li supported.
"Enough! We've wasted enough time and I am not willing to spend another minute on this island! We are getting this key and we are going to get the next one and the next one until we get all of them. Now stop whining, both of you, and let's go," he shouted, "and as to what we're accomplishing, P'Li, you know very well the answer: the liberation of the world from the United Republic of Nations."
The sun was finally setting (only the top-half of it now was visible and was already sinking down) and the gentle bronze light bathed the temple in its light, the golden walls glaring and shining.
Elsewhere, unbeknownst to the airbender and the rest of the team, Ming Hua was actually doing poorly against the guardian. The armless waterbender was already down one arm with only her left to bend with. Things didn't look good for her. In fact, she was getting beaten pretty badly as she was struck with endless amounts of water with no rest or pause. Eventually she went down, defeated. But just as the guardian was about to strike the final blow, forming a water blade on her right hand, she turned her head suddenly. And then she leaped away and left just as as suddenly.
"Yeah, you better run," Ming Hua sighed and was relieved, more mumbling than speaking.
Back at the temple, the gang was just opening the temple doors and entering the chamber. It was quite dark with only a few small holes here and there, and a big one at the center top, for light to enter through. There was nothing inside except the the cage where the key is protected inside: it was at the center, raised by two or three steps, atop a pedestal. Around it were bigger pedestals, four of them on each corner with a square-shaped one on top, resting on the four. The key itself is surrounded by what seemed to be metal bars…but made of sand? Or something like it. They surmised that it's the same material as the sand outside across the island. Ghazan tried to bend it, but of course as before, it didn't work. Needless to say, he was annoyed.
"P'Li? Are you well enough to try burning it or exploding it?" Zaheer asked.
"I'll try," she replied uncertain.
She readied herself, but before she could try, the waterbender guardian arrived, falling through the hole on the ceiling, and entered the cage as it morphed open as she fell, but quickly closing itself back up after she entered. The gang all looked surprised. The guardian then walked up to the Earth Key and touched it, closing her eyes. And all of a sudden, the key glowed before sending some kind of energy wave away. It passed through them all harmlessly and continued on beyond. The guardian then stepped out of the cage (again it morphed open and closed) and stood before the three criminals. But instead of fighting, she tried to reason with them and finally spoke.
"Why are you doing this?" she spoke in a calm and solemn manner, "do you not understand what this key can do?"
"Oh we understand enough, lady. And while I agree with you on some level, we're not leaving here without it," Ghazan replied.
"Then it seems we will have to engage in combat. My partner died trying to protect this world from darkness, and I will do the same," she continued.
"That's good to know," said Zaheer, smiling auspiciously.
Little did the guardian know, Ming Hua was sneaking up behind her ready to strike. She sharpened her arm and sent it straight for her chest. But the guardian was ready. She jumped out of the way and turned around swiftly, turning Ming Hua's own water arm against herself by bending it to her in ice form, pinning her to the far wall. But then, BOOM! As the guardian turned back to face the gang, P'Li had used her combustionbending and it was a direct hit. She violently flew back hitting the sand cage—and even then it hardly budged—and landed on the steps. Her left arm was completely severed and blood splashed out all over the floor; her body too was destroyed along with her armor; she was dead before she hit the ground.
P'Li was shaking and immediately fainted after that blast. Ming Hua broke free of the ice and reformed it into a tendril. And the sand cage crumbled away leaving the key unprotected for anyone to grab, which was exactly what Zaheer did.
"Finally. The Earth Key. Now we can leave this place and never look back," he spoke.
"I'm with you, boss. I hate this island too. It sucks not being able to bend anything, feeling powerless. Let's go," Ghazan concurred.
The airbender grabbed the unconscious P'Li and they all headed out. Ghazan asked Ming Hua what happened to her right arm but she only replied with, "Don't ask." She was obviously frustrated and tired like all of them, and was thrilled to be able to finally leave. But Zaheer felt a little uncomfortable. "What was that energy wave that was sent out? What did the guardian do?" he thought to himself. But it seemed like he would have to find out the hard way.
Back at the airship, as Team Korra were all resting and sleeping, the energy wave passed by, passing through the ship (harmlessly). The pilot and two of his staffs noticed but didn't think much of it as they too were tired. But at one of the bedrooms, a sleeping Korra was awakened suddenly by it, her eyes glowed light blue for a second.
"No…" she gasped out.